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Machi replaces Affeldt in Giants' bullpen

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Machi's Major League debut 0:56

9/3/12: Jean Machi tosses a perfect ninth for the Giants in his Major League debut

By JR Radcliffe
/
Special to MLB.com |

MILWAUKEE -- After indicating Tuesday it would happen, the Giants officially added right-handed reliever Jean Machi to the active roster Wednesday, with Jeremy Affeldt landing on the 15-day disabled list with an oblique strain.

"He's got three quality pitches," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Machi. "He throws hard and I think more than anything is how he handles himself out there. He's a pretty good athlete and holds runners pretty good."

Machi's long Minor League baseball voyage, beginning in 2002, didn't lead to the Majors until last year, when he joined the Giants in September for eight appearances (allowing five earned runs on seven hits). Bochy said he could throw multiple innings if needed after the Giants were forced to use Chad Gaudin and George Kontos for multiple-inning stints Tuesday.

In the small sample of the early season, several relievers at Triple-A Fresno have fared well, including Dan Runzler (zero earned runs in six innings), Machi (zero in five), Jake Dunning (one in eight), Heath Hembree (one in six) and Steve Edlefsen (one in five).

Hembree stands out as perhaps the most intriguing, a potential future closer ranking as the Giants' No. 5 prospect on MLB.com's preseason list. Counting his four saves this year -- including Tuesday night in a 3-2 win over Tacoma -- Hembree has recorded 57 saves in the Minors since 2011, though injury slowed his 2012 output somewhat. However, unlike Machi, Runzler or Dunning, he would need to be added to the 40-man roster should the parent club elect to bring him aboard, though Bochy said Tuesday that wasn't a roadblock.

"We'd just like to give him a little more time," Bochy said. "That was a tough call because Runzler's throwing the ball well, too. [Sandy] Rosario had good innings last night."

JR Radcliffe is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.